China — Government officials in China discovered five fake Apple stores Monday in the southwestern city of Kunming, two of which were ordered to suspend their business during investigations, the Associated Press reported, citing a local government’s announcement on Monday.
The other three stores were left uninvestigated because they did not find any fake Apple products for sale.
An American woman living in China first broke the news on her blog, Bird Abroad, last week after finding three shops who were “masquerading as bona fide Apple stores in the city,” AP wrote. She is now inviting people to send in their own photos of counterfeit Apple products and is posting the images.
After the Kunming Trade and Industry Bureau heard of her discovery, the Chinese officials inspected more than 300 electronic stores in Kunming and found the five perpetrating the multi-billion dollar giant.
Currently Apple has only four stores in China — two in Beijing and two in Shanghai.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/3zlg3fd (Yahoo News)
http://tinyurl.com/3gsmfne (BirdAbroad blog)
http://tinyurl.com/3j3s5zd (21st Century Business Herald, in Chinese)
Photo courtesy of BirdAbroad.
